Tennessee Attorney General issues cease-and-desist letters to unlicensed online sweepstakes casinos
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has sent formal letters to almost forty operators.
US.- Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has sent formal cease-and-desist letters to almost forty online sweepstakes casinos operating in the state. His office said the action was part of an “ongoing effort to protect Tennessee consumers from predatory and unregulated gambling operations.”
The attorney general’s office stated that the promotional sweepstakes model constitutes an illegal lottery prohibited by the Tennessee Constitution and violating Tennessee gambling and consumer-protection laws. All platforms that received a letter have reportedly disabled the unlawful features of their platforms or agreed to end operations in the coming weeks.
Skrmetti said: “The only thing you can be sure about with an online sweepstakes casino is that it’s going to take yourmoney. They work hard to make these sweepstakes casinos look legitimate, but at the end of the day they are not. They avoid any oversight that could ensure honesty or fairness. Our Office was glad to chase these shady operations out of Tennessee and will keep working to protect Tennesseans from illegal gambling.”
He said the growing national crackdown reflects widespread concern over platforms using sweepstakes language as a loophole to run unregulated gambling operations. “Other sweepstakes casinos currently operating in Tennessee or contemplating entering the Tennessee marketplace should consider themselves on notice that illegal gambling will not be tolerated,” he said.
In May, Montana became the first to pass legislation explicitly banning online sweepstakes casinos. In December, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill 5935.
